Two Full Days Of Action Feature Top High School Perfomers, College Competition, A Bit Of Middle School And A World Record Attempt

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Hayward Field will open its gates to athletes from more than 110 high schools Friday and Saturday as the Oregon Relays reclaims the heart of its mission for the first time in four years. 

Nationally relevant events that could impact the Top 10 rankings or threaten meet records begin with the two featured high school distance medley relays but extend up and down the schedule on both the track and in the field. 

The very best stuff could come last. 

Saturday night's finale is a 4xMile relay featuring former Oregon stars Cole Hocker, Cooper Teare, James West and Matt Wisner. They are chasing the 1985 world record set by an Irish lineup that ran 15:49.08. 

The event is reminiscent of a similar 4xMile in 2009 in which Oregon runners Shadrack Biwott, Matthew Centrowitz, Andrew Wheating and Galen Rupp ran 16:03.24 with fans lined up on the track to offer encouragement. 

A deep group of high school boys distance runners has targeted the 3,000 meters Friday and the boys distance medley relay Saturday. 

Tyrone Gorze of Crater OR, Michael Maiorano of South Meford OR and James Crabtree of Sherwood lead a field that includes 11 runners with seed times of 8:28 or faster. 

Cole Sprout's 2018 meet record of 8:13.95 could come under threat. Gorze ran 8:11.38 indoors in Seattle on Jan. 15. 

 HOW TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND'S OREGON RELAYS LIVE ON RUNNERSPACE

There are a handful of boys distance medley relay teams eager to try and run under 10 minutes. 

The Oregon state best is 9:58.2c by South Eugene in 1977. 

MEET RECORDS 

California teams from Buchanan and Clovis, and Farmington of Utah, figure to be in the mix with Lincoln, Tualatin, Franklin, Ida B. Wells and Crater.

The girls distance medley relay features perhaps the best anchor leg in the U.S., with Mira Costa CA star Dalia Frias having run the second-fastest prep mile in history already this season. Another California powerhouse, Buchanan of California, won the 4x1,600 relay at Arcadia two weeks ago and that program also won the DyeStat Girls Dual Meet Championship in 2021 (on paper). 

Cherokee of New Jersey, York (Elmhurst) and Mt. Prospect of Illinois, Eastlake of Washington and Boise of Idaho bring in strong teams and will face Summit, Lincoln and Franklin. 

Frias is also entered in the invitational mile. 

Amanda Moll and Hana Moll of Olympia WA are due to compete unattached in the women's pole vault against college competition as they seek to unlock the first 15-foot clearance in prep history.

In the sprints, Mia Brahe-Pedersen from Lake Oswego and Lily Jones of Roosevelt will take their friendly rivalry to Hayward Field after an historic effort last weekend at Wilsonville. Brahe-Pedersen, a sophomore, ran 11.43 and Jones, a senior, went 11.52 as both pushed into the U.S. top 10 and gave Oregon a rare national presence in the sprints. 

Brahe-Pedersen, the Nike Indoor Nationals champion in the 200 meters, is also entered in the 200 meters, the 4x100 and the 4x200. Her talented teammate, distance runner Kate Peters, is listed only in relay duty in the 4x800 and the Sprint Medley. 

The boys discus meet record is likely to be crushed by Jeremiah Nubbe of Rainier WA, who is ranked US#1 at 205-2. Nubbe is also the top entrant in the boys hammer. Tigard's Elijah Jackman will try to keep up with Nubbe in the discus and is also one of the favorites in the shot put.

Wilson of Long Beach CA is the team to beat in the sprint relays and is coming off of top-five finishes in the girls 4x100, 4x200 and 4x400 relays at Mt. SAC. The Wilson boys are US#7 in the boys 4x400 relay with the 3:16.30 that it ran at Texas Relays.

In a rematch of last year's Oregon 6A Showcase final, Jesuit's Chloe Foerster and Summit's Maggie Williams are due to go head to head in the 800 meters. Those two are the second- and third-fastest runners in state history in that event and Foerster's 2021 best was 2:05.27 and Williams has run 2:08.03.

Ella Borsheim of Bellarmine Prep WA and Maya Baechler from Kitsilano BC have both run under 4:50 and are the most likely to hang with Frias in the girls mile. 

The boys mile looks like a showdown between Christopher Caudillo from Clovis CA, a junior with 4:05 credentials, and Farmington UT's Ethan Peterson and Ida B. Wells OR's Kai Mitchell-Reiss. 

Landon Helms of Emmett ID could make a big splash this weekend in the 110-meter hurdles, where has achieved an Idaho all-time best with 14.01, and the pole vault, where he has gone 17-2.  

Freshman sensation JaiCieonna Gero-Holt from Emerald Ridge WA is the top entry in the girls 100-meter hurdles at 14.09, the high jump at 6-0.75 and is seeded fourth in the long jump. She placed sixth at The Outdoor Nationals in the heptathlon coming out of her eighth grade year at Hayward Field last summer.

Ella McRitchie of Bainbridge WA is the top entry in the girls pole vault at 13-7.50. A club teammate of the Moll sisters, she placed second at New Balance Nationals Indoor with that clearance.

Oregon's top throwers, Kyeese Hollands of Central Catholic and Sydney Brewster of Sandy are set to renew their competition in the girls discus. At a Mt. Hood Conference triangular meet April 5, Hollands threw 150-1 for the win and Brewster threw 149-7.,

Carter Cutting from Corner Canyon UT leads the field in the boys 800 meters after running 1:51.55 at the Arcadia Invitational. He'll face Marcel Mitchell-Francis of Wilson (Long Beach) John Schuler from Jesuit OR and Wes Shipsey from Central Catholic OR. 

Benjamin Balasz of Sunset OR is taking aim at a victory and possible sub-six minute time in the 2,000-meter steeplechase.

Eli Lawrence of Meridian ID is the top entry in both the boys long jump and triple jump. 

In the boys javelin, Dash Sirmon from Walla Walla and Austin Milton of Sherwood are both capable of 200-foot throws.

Among the college entries, the return of Zach Holland from Umpqua Community College to the men's javelin could produce another highlight. Holland placed second at the Texas Relays and won the Hayward Premiere. 

Oregon's triple jump champion, Emmanuel Ihemeje, is entered in the long jump. 

Micah Williams, who ran a wind-aided 9.83-second 100 meters last weekend, could see relay duty on the Ducks' 4x100. 

Christian Noble of Lee (Tenn.) will run in the elite men's 1,500 meters, where he will find Hocker, West and Wisner all tuning up for Saturday's record attempt.